Regensburg 2022 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 11: Active Matter 2 (joint session DY/BP/CPP)

BP 11.10: Talk

Tuesday, September 6, 2022, 12:30–12:45, H18

Inertial dynamics of an active Brownian particle* — •Jonas Mayer Martins and Raphael Wittkowski — Institut für Theoretische Physik, Center for Soft Nanoscience, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 48149 Münster, Germany

Active Brownian motion commonly assumes spherical overdamped particles. However, self-propelled particles are often neither symmetric nor overdamped yet underlie random fluctuations from their surroundings. Active Brownian motion has already been generalized to include asymmetric particles. Separately, recent findings have shown the importance of inertial effects for particles of macroscopic size or in low-friction environments. We aim to consolidate the previous findings into the general description of a self-propelled asymmetric particle with inertia. We derive the Langevin equation of such a particle as well as the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation. Furthermore, a formula is presented that allows to reconstruct the hydrodynamic resistance matrix of the particle by measuring its trajectory. Numerical solutions of the Langevin equation show that, independent of the particle’s shape, the noise-free trajectory at zero temperature starts with an inertial transition phase and converges to a circular helix. We discuss this universal convergence with respect to the helical motion that many microorganisms exhibit.
Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) – Project-ID 433682494 - SFB 1459